Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Religion Woes

This is a serious post and I write the following with great solemnity.


A few weeks ago, I went to my relative's house to visit. She is an aging Christian whom I respected and trusted. At one point during the visit, she pulled me aside. She had something she wanted to say to me. In private. And so I followed her to a couch.

She sat down facing me and said,

Do you believe in God?

And so I answered:

Yes.

Do you know the story of Jesus?

Yes. (Being not a strict Buddist, I had explored the other religions out of interest.)

Do you know why Jesus was sent down to Earth? You see, Jesus is God's son, but yet God loved us so much he was willing to sacrifice his son to save us from hell.
When all humans are born, they carry sin. This sin comes from their ancestors, who sinned a long time ago. But the sin doesn't wash off with time.
This sin prevents us from going to heaven. And you see, God loves us so much, he doesn't want us to go to hell. After all, he created us. And so, he sent down his son Jesus to cleanse us of our sin.

(I could only sit there and nod.)

God planned for Jesus to die, because he knew only then could Jesus' blood, which is untainted by sin, wash off our sin. 3 days later, Jesus rose from the dead to join his Father in heaven.
There is proof that he is the son of God. You can check his tomb, it's empty. But if you check Buddha's tomb or Muhammad's tomb, you will find bones. Why? Because Jesus rose from the dead but they didn't.

(I was stunned; I had not expected this from her.)

Have you ever heard of this book... The Big Word For Kids?

Yes, I've read it before. It's the children's version of the Bible, isn't it?

(She seemed taken aback.) Oh, your parents let you read it?

Yeah. I think you gave us about 10 copies a long time ago. We passed some around.

Well, remember what I said, okay?

Ya, thanks.


That conversation was ultra-freaky. Should it have come from one of my friends, I would have stopped the person halfway. But coming from a respected relative like that...

This has really changed my views on religion. I had no idea just how desparate poeple were nowadays. In her mind, she might be doing a good thing, but to me, she was just scary. And the worst part was how she didn't want my parents to find out about this. It showed in her behaviour.

I also think she got the 'Buddha' part wrong. Buddha never claimed to be God or anything like it. He just led a saintly life and encouraged other people to do the same.


And now, I have a headache.

12 comments:

MD said...

Actually Ghee Ken, that's not being desperate. Your relative just wants to do what is right for her and what may be good for you. She probably doesn't want to offend your parents, so that may explain why she talk to you in private. 'Cause some parents are not that open when it comes to religion. That probably explains why she was shocked when she heard that you actually read the bible. =) Not to be religious or anything, just putting forward my point of view. XD

minicass said...

I agree with Zi Ying :-)

Kelly said...

no, zi ying. she is TOTALLY desperate. sorry but i think buddhists tend 2 b more open abt religion than christians so DUH shes taken aback.

my parents would probably go :"wtv" if i tell them someone had that religious conversation.

actually i'm trying not 2 go into a rant abt religion that will probably offend a lot of christians.

n gheek, if any1 did that 2 me, i'd jus not listen at all.

Kelly said...

grrrrrrrr

MD said...

Sorry Kelly. I know Buddhists tend to be more open to other religions... I'm not going to start the 'religious' fight on our views and so on and so forth... And I didn't mean that Gheek's parents are DEFINITELY not open to other religion just SOME people tend to clam up as soon as you mention religion. Maybe Gheek's relative just doesn't want to 'de zui' (read in Chinese) anyone??? And not ALL Christians are that un-open to the topic of religion it's not a blanket sorta thing like just because ONE person may not be that ready to discuss religion doesn't mean ALL people are like that??? And by 'just not listening at all' you would be offending the relative. And if you don't listen at all, that doesn't make you very open to other religions, does it? Just putting forward my point of view on this 'controversial' post. If I've offended anyone I'm really sorry 'cause I'm not very good at expressing myself properly XD

PS: Kelly, I welcome a long ranting on religion/Christianity I'm sure people won't get offended THAT easily... I just don't know if Ghee Ken will welcome ur making his blog a place to debate religion...

MD said...

Sorry. In previous comment I spelt 'our' wrongly. I welcome all disagreements on previous comment. Can just go my blog and rant if Ghee Ken doesn't allow it. Not like I care... XD

Kelly said...

wow, zi... wad a long comment

actually, i'm afraid dat if i start d religion rant thingie, i might go 2 far... u noe how some ppl r abt religion.

no, i dun agree dat "just not listening" means ur un-open. his relative was trying 2 make him doubt his religion... like sorta trying 2 in d long run convert him.

sorry, but i dun tink going up 2 a person n sayin :"ur religion sux cuz of this n that n mine is better because Jesus's tomb is empty."

^(went a bit far in d exaggerating part, ignore d sux there)

and i couldnt care less if i offend my relative hu doesnt noe where 2 draw a line n starts telling me their religion n superior n mine is well, not.

n not bragging, (dun noe hu would brag abt dis,) but, i tink i'm quite open-minded. i grew up wif ppl of different religions. one of my closest childhood frens is a Muslim n u dun c us squabbling over whether her religion or mine is... (cant find d word...) jus say, better.

Kelly said...

mayb i'm jus angry cuz when i was in primary (during d SARS time) i got freaked by my transporter who (surprise, surprise) is a christian.

she told me dat if i din believe in God, i'd b doomed 2 go 2 hell if i die of SARS.

(i was very young and... naive)
so obviously i was scared. at dat time, i'd already read d childrens bible n believed dat God DID exist as well as Buddha n all d other deities of other religions...

so i told her dat i did believe God existed. n she scared d freak outa me saying its not enough to jus believe. i gotta b christian or something... blahblahblah...

n so now i refuse 2 let ppl do dat 2 me, threaten me into converting, sorta. anyway, i'm 2 young 2 b making my own desicions abt religions still.

n abt dat open-minded thing... Buddhism ENCOURAGES u 2 learn abt other religions then u can make ur choice whether u wan 2 stay a Buddhist or convert. n they dun go around telling ppl they will go 2 hell unless they convert.


sorry, went a little far. hope i din offend any1. christians especially since it seems i started 2 rant a bit.

MD said...

Kelly, I agree that your trnsporter went too far with that. I mean, who the hell scares little kids by telling them that they're DOOMED??? That is DEFINITELY the wrong way to go for that transporter who obviously does not know anything about talking about religion to young kids. Poor you... For getting traumatised by a freaky transporter.

MD said...

I mean, we were what? Eight? Nine? I would be freaked too. I agree that's kinda like forcing others to beleive, maybe your transporter just doesn't know the right way to talk about this??? Maybe he/she just came out a bit too strong...

Kelly said...

lol. wtv, zi. dun reali care...

aiya, lazy 2 keep up this little debate. my anger has burnt itself out...

i came 2 d blog n i was like, wah 10 comments edi??

minicass said...

ok,cuz of ghee ken's 1 post all dis stuff is coming in.Anyway,Kelly,ur right.Buddha didn't CLAIM 2 b God.he just lead a saintly life and encouraged plp 2 follow him.Unfortunately,ghee ken's aunt misunderstood the part about Buddhism.Buddhism can't exactly be considered a religion.That's why u dun c Buddhi's fanatics.And yes,I too wud b freaked out with your transporter.Who wouldn't?But not every christian is like that.Well,not any christian i've met.Go church oso u wont hear any pastor say"BELIEVE OR GO TO HELL'unless tat church is some freaky religous cult.Anyway,try to understand.Ghee ken's aunt was just doing what she thought was right.According to the bible,this is what you call 'spreading the gospel' but because God gave us free will,its really up to us whether want to follow or not.Gosh,next thing you know,this blog is going to become as popular as malaysia today.tat reminds me;

In africa i saw a statue of nelson mandela outside a priso he was put in.NOW IMAGINE THIS.Anwar comes in power and a statue of RAJA PETRA is built.....possibilities